Overview¶
This page is targeting k3d v3.0.0 and newer!
k3d is a lightweight wrapper to run k3s (Rancher Lab’s minimal Kubernetes distribution) in docker.
k3d makes it very easy to create single- and multi-node k3s clusters in docker, e.g. for local development on Kubernetes.
View a quick demo
Learning¶
- Rancher Meetup - May 2020 - Simplifying Your Cloud-Native Development Workflow With K3s, K3c and K3d (YouTube)
- k3d demo repository: iwilltry42/k3d-demo
Requirements¶
Releases¶
| Platform | Stage | Version | Release Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Releases | stable |  |
 |
|
| GitHub Releases | latest |  |
 |
|
| Homebrew | - |  |
- |
Installation¶
You have several options there:
- use the install script to grab the latest release:
- wget:
wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/master/install.sh | bash - curl:
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/master/install.sh | bash
- wget:
-
use the install script to grab a specific release (via
TAGenvironment variable):- wget:
wget -q -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/master/install.sh | TAG=v3.0.0-beta.0 bash - curl:
curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rancher/k3d/master/install.sh | TAG=v3.0.0-beta.0 bash
- wget:
-
use Homebrew:
brew install k3d(Homebrew is available for MacOS and Linux)- Formula can be found in homebrew/homebrew-core and is mirrored to homebrew/linuxbrew-core
- install via AUR package rancher-k3d-bin:
yay -S rancher-k3d-bin - grab a release from the release tab and install it yourself.
- install via go:
go install github.com/rancher/k3d(Note: this will give you unreleased/bleeding-edge changes)
Quick Start¶
Create a cluster named mycluster with just a single master node:
k3d create cluster mycluster
Get the new cluster’s connection details merged into your default kubeconfig (usually specified using the KUBECONFIG environment variable or the default path $HOME/.kube/config) and directly switch to the new context:
k3d get kubeconfig mycluster --switch
Use the new cluster with kubectl, e.g.:
kubectl get nodes
Related Projects¶
- k3x: a graphics interface (for Linux) to k3d.